Positive and negative conceptions of human rights

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the protective function of constitutional rights as compared to the traditional defensive function. Whereas the defensive function of constitutional rights requires that the state does not interfere with and respect the constitutional rights of the individual, the protective function requires the state to act to promote and protect constitutional rights. The problematic is examined primarily through the case-law of three foreign supreme jurisdictions, i.e. the Supreme Court of the United States of America, the Federal Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Court of Human Rights. In the broader perspective the thesis aims to assess the approach taken by the Czech Constitutional Court in relation to this problematic. The protective function of constitutional rights is explored through the perspective of the individual and through the perspective of the system. The thesis is divided into four chapters. In the first chapter, the author clarifies fundamental theoretical concepts used in the thesis. The positive and negative concept of constitutional rights is closely connected to the two concepts of freedom as developed by I. Berlin in his famous essay Two Concepts of Freedom. The protective function also represents a specific legal..